Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev leaves a memorial ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance during his visit to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem on Nov. 11. (Pool photo by Gali Tibbon/AFP via European Pressphoto Agency)
MOSCOW — Is the “liberal wing” of President Vladimir Putin’s cabinet under attack?
Russia’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday that more officials could be targeted in the corruption probe that has already led to the arrest of the country’s economic development minister. Other news reports went so far as to name names, all of them of officials close to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, leader of the so-called liberals, who tend to favor a smaller state role in society and greater international outreach.
Medvedev’s faction is seen to be in an eternal struggle against the Kremlin’s “siloviki” — a force that includes officials from the military, law enforcement and security services in Putin’s inner circles.
At the center of the current tug of war is the privatization of major oil assets. On Tuesday, Alexei Ulyukayev, the economic development minister, was charged with demanding and receiving a $2 million bribe allegedly for approving the $5 billion purchase of a 50 percent stake in the Bashneft oil company by the state-run oil giant Rosneft.
Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev was charged with demanding and receiving a $2 million bribe allegedly for approving the $5 billion purchase of a 50 percent stake in the Bashneft oil company by the state-run oil giant Rosneft. (Maxim Shipenkov/European Pressphoto Agency)
Ulyukayev initially opposed the deal, which eventually went through in October. Rosneft is led by Igor Sechin, seen as a close Putin lieutenant and one of the leaders of the siloviki.
“The arrest of Ulyukayev served as another proof that Igor Sechin is a very powerful figure,” Andrei Kolesnikov of the Moscow Carnegie Center wrote in a commentary. “In the hierarchy of the elites he occupies one of the prized positions for influencing the economy, the political landscape, and the administrative system of weights and measures. Everyone has understood that.”
The influential business daily Vedomosti named four officials who are seen as part of Medvedev’s team and have come under investigation by the security services, which have had Ulyukayev under surveillance since last year.
Medvedev presided over a government meeting Wednesday that was at first reported as an “emergency session,” although state-run Russia 24 television said later that it was just an ordinary meeting.
Medvedev said the case against Ulyukayev showed that “everyone is equal before the law,” and he also expressed hope that the investigation would get to the bottom of the allegations.
“What’s happened should be investigated in the most thorough manner and assessed in strict compliance with the law,” Medvedev said.
Russia’s former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, expressed the doubts of many observers here about the Ulyukayev case.
“Even in the work of law enforcement agencies there are sometimes mistakes; we don't have complete confidence in certain steps,” Kudrin told Russia 24. “I know from the experience of other officials who were released after being arrested and all charges against them were dropped. We have such a practice in Russia.”
Alpha Bank, one of the leading Russian financial companies, issued its own opinion of the case, saying that the “explanation for his arrest is questionable.”
“The current situation is, thus, a litmus test for the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, and as to whether he is able to defend the innocence of one his cabinet members,” the bank said. “We see this as very negative development for the government’s credibility.”
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny went further, saying that the government lacks any credibility.
“The authorities consist of thieves and crooks and anyone can be put in jail,” Navalny wrote. “When someone gets a black mark, someone else benefits from it. So in this case probably it was Sechin who benefited. But what’s the difference: all of them are toads and vipers.”
Navalny’s political aspirations received a boost Wednesday, when Russia’s Supreme Court reversed a criminal conviction against him in a corruption case and ordered a retrial, opening the door for a potential run for office.
Navalny, who helped lead large street protests against Putin in 2011 and 2012 and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Moscow, was seen as a rising political star and a possible challenger to Putin. But he was convicted in 2013 of embezzling timber worth $500,000 at the time from a state-owned company in the provincial city of Kirov in a trial that was largely perceived as a vendetta against him. He has remained free from prison but was barred from running for office.
